The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want.

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Meet the National Decade Committee Ireland

Dr. Anne Marie O’Hagan

Anne Marie has over 20 years of experience in applied marine and coastal research. Her background is in environmental science and law. Anne Marie has worked on a number of EU and nationally funded projects covering various marine sectors, coastal management, marine conservation, and governance more broadly. Anne Marie represents MaREI on a number of working groups including the IEA’s Ocean Energy Systems Agreement (IEA-OES) on Environmental Effects and Consenting Processes; the ICES Working Group on Marine Planning and Coastal Zone Management, the National Stakeholder Advisory Group on Marine Spatial Planning, and chaired the law and governance sub-group of the Government’s Expert Advisory Group on expanding Ireland’s network of Marine Protected Areas.

Dr Julia Calderwood

Dr Julia Calderwood is a researcher within the Ecosystem Based Approach to Fisheries Management Team at the Marine Institute in Galway, Ireland. Her research is focussed on the use of science-industry partnerships and the development of novel approaches to address and resolve problems faced by the fishing industry to improve the sustainability and economic viability of fisheries, reduce pressures on sensitive marine species and ultimately work towards enhancing wider marine ecosystem health.

Dr João Frias

Dr João Frias is a microplastic pollution researcher and science communicator based in the Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (MFRC) of the Atlantic Technological University (ATU), in Galway city, Ireland.

He has been working on plastic pollution since 2008, and researching microplastic pollution in Ireland since 2017. In his research projects he has been assessing microplastic concentrations or identifying emerging issues associated with the plastisphere, as trace metal contamination or invasive species. His projects are solutions-oriented and he applies the ocean literacy principles as a stakeholder engagement tool. He has been part of reports for GESAMP, the United Nations Environment Programme and the European Marine Board. For more details about Dr Frias’ work please visit: https://www.joaofrias.com/

Dr Jennifer Brennan

Dr Jennifer Brennan is the Research and Innovation Strategy Lead at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. She is leading the development of the Department’s first ever Research and Innovation Strategy. Prior to joining the civil service, Jennifer spent about 15 years working in various research funding and policy roles, including as Director of R&I at the Technological Higher Education Association, and as Ireland’s National Contact Point for the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions R&I programme. She sits on several Advisory Boards, including for the Centre for Industrial and Engineering Optics at TU Dublin and the MOQS pan-European doctoral programme.

Fergal McGrath

Fergal McGrath is the Survey Team Leader with Advanced Mapping Services (AMS) at the Marine Institute (MI) in Ireland, contributing to the delivery of the INFOMAR national seabed mapping programme and its associated projects. This work comprises acquisition and delivery of hydrographic, geophysical and habitats data for use in MSP, ORE, and MSFD reporting. He co-ordinates and manages INFOMAR contributions to EMFAF and Interreg/Peace+ funded projects as well as leading a WP in EMODnet Seabed Habitats. His background is in geology and geophysics, with over 25 years combined experience in the offshore oil and gas industry, baseline seabed mapping, and EU funded project management.

Louise Allcock

Louise Allcock is Professor of Zoology at University of Galway, Ireland. She is a member of the Ocean Decade’s Vision 2030 Working Group 2 ‘Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity’, chair of the North Atlantic Regional working group of the UN Ocean Decade programme “Challenger 150”, and vice chair of the UN Ocean Decade action “Marine Animal Forest of the World”. Louise is a member of the IUCN SSC Mollusc Specialist Group and has led the red list assessment of 750 cephalopod species. She chaired, on behalf of Ireland, the Status Assessments of deep-water OSPAR Listed Threatened/Declining VME Habitats working with international experts from across Europe. She is a member of Ireland’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) Advisory Group, providing expert advice to Government on MPA expansion. Louise has co-authored two richly-illustrated books: Octopus, Squid and Cuttlefish (University of Chicago Press, 2018) and The Deep Ocean: Life in the Abyss (Princeton University Press, 2023). She is a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Dr. Tim O’Higgins

Dr. Tim O’Higgins is a Policy Adviser at the Marine Environment Section of Irelands Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage. Tim is a marine ecologist with a focus on marine policy and governance and a particular interest in complex adaptive social-ecological systems. Tim has worked extensively on European marine policy, and is leading the development of Irelands’ new marine protected area legislation.

Dr. Noirin Burke

Dr. Noirin Burke is the Director of Education at Galway Atlantaquaria Ltd, the National Aquarium of Ireland, where she has worked for over 15 years. Her job involves developing and delivering educational activities within the aquarium and through outreach. 

Noirin works on both formal and informal education programmes and is part of the coordination team for the Marine Institute Explorers Educational Programme. She is a director of the Irish Ocean Literacy Network www.irishoceanliteracy.ie and has been on the board of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group www.iwdg.ie for over 10 years. She is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums conservation education committee, the UNESCO Ocean Literacy with All group and is the national coordinator for the All-Atlantic Blue Schools programme.

Prof. Peter Croot

Prof. Peter Croot is a marine biogeochemist, who investigates the impact of biogeochemical and physical processes on the concentration and distribution of chemical species in the ocean. Dr Croot has extensive experience of working in the open ocean, from the Tropics to the Southern Ocean. Current work is focused on how climate change will impact the coastal and open ocean areas of the globe. A co-PI in the SFI research centre iCRAG he is also active internationally through the GEOTRACES, IMBER, GO-SHIP and SOLAS communities and since 2022 is the Secretary to the SCOR Executive Committee.

Stephanie Brennan

Stephanie Brennan is a project assistant with Comharchumann Fuinnimh Oileáin Árann Teoranta (CFOAT), the Aran Islands energy cooperative. This community owned, non-profit co-op was established in 2012 with the aim of achieving net zero carbon status and energy independence and has already made great strides in meeting these targets. CFOAT has successfully participated in five European and nationally funded R&D projects to date. Stephanie has a background in health and education and holds a MSc in Human Communication from University College London. She carried out research on the three Aran Islands in the early 2000s and represented CFOAT over the two day Mission Ocean conference in Cork in 2022.

Jeremy Gault

Simply Blue Group (SBG) Project Manager – Ireland Floating Offshore Wind (Emerald & Western Star)

Jeremy has been working in the marine and coastal domain for over 25 years and for the last 20 years has managed a range of research and commercial projects. Prior to joining SBG, he managed a large interdisciplinary research team that successfully delivered national, EU and international projects by bridging engineering, applied earth and social sciences. He served as Co-Chair of GEO-Blue Planet, and the European Marine Board and was Irish Representative on the ESFRI Environmental Working Group. As such, he has considerable experience and knowledge of marine systems, their sustainable usage and the need to effectively manage anthropogenic activities.

Fiona Regan

Fiona Regan is Full Professor in Chemistry at the School of Chemical Sciences in Dublin City University and Director of the DCU Water Institute. 

Research career: [1994] PhD at Dublin City University [1994-1996] Post-doctoral researcher at Dublin City University [1996-2002] Lecturer at Limerick Institute of Technology [2002-2009] Lecturer/Senior Lecturer at Dublin City University [2009-current]; Beaufort PI in Sensors and Communications Technology and coordinator of SmartBay Ireland (2009-2016); Full Professor at Dublin City University. 

Research and outreach: Development of sensors and separation techniques for applications in water quality monitoring; application of Lab-on-a-Chip for water quality monitoring; real-time monitoring systems for decision support tools; water policy; citizen science; marine contaminants (emerging concern, legacy and PFAS) and indicators including marine biofouling strategies on sensors and deployed structures. 

Chairperson of Scientific and Technical Advisory Board of EU Water4All Partnership; Chairperson Climate Change and Environmental Sciences Committee of the Royal Irish Academy.

Aoife O'Mahony

Aoife O’Mahony is a dedicated advocate for marine conservation. With over two decades of experience in communications and project management, Aoife led the first-ever national campaign “Fair Seas” to increase Marine Protected Areas in Ireland.

Under her leadership, Fair Seas produced new reports on Marine Protected Areas, climate impact and sustainable financing of MPAs, hosted Ireland’s first MPA Conference, and conducted the inaugural Ocean Literacy Survey in Ireland. Aoife also championed the first-ever Hope Spot in Ireland with Mission Blue, The Greater Skellig Coast. Aoife has been appointed an official Sustainable Development Goal champion for 2023/2024 by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications.

Aoife has been recognised as a key figure driving positive change in Ireland’s environmental landscape as one of the 100 women changing Ireland in 2023 and was selected as one of The Explorers Club – Class of 2024 – Fifty People Changing the World that the World Needs to Know About.